Proteau, Eve-Stay, and Orwig raced through the corridors en route to the NCO Club, having left Sgt. Stauch in the capable hands of Nurse Yahbo. The corporal blazed a trail through
the mulling herds of off duty shipmates, who hastily avoided his bulky frame.
"Proteau to ANDA", Proteau called into his communicator while trying to keep pace with his speeding subordinate. "Damn", he exclaimed, "I told him to wait for us."
"Eel way ee bay air they oon say", Eve-Stay grunted breathlessly in the security officer's wake. "Ee hay ill way ee bay oh ay ay kay."
"I hope you're right", Proteau allowed.
In front of them, Orwig went down to the ground, stumbling over a hapless crewman unaware of the dire circumstances transpiring elsewhere on the ship.
"Hey, watch it pal!", the indignant young sergeant yelled as he rolled out from under the hulking corporal.
"You watch it!", Orwig spat back, grabbing the NCO by the lapel and yanking him roughly from the floor.
The sergeant hesitated, noting Orwig's dark expression. "Uh...what's the emergency, corporal?"
"Problem in the NCO Club", Orwig muttered, pushing the sergeant away and resuming his flight. He was surprised to see the sergeant appear at his side, matching his pace easily.
"Where do you think you're going?", the corporal demanded.
"NCO Club", the sergeant responded. "That's my current duty assignment."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm MWR", the sergeant replied, "ya' know Military Welfare and Recreation."
"Yeah", Orwig said, "I seen you guys at the gym. What's that like?"
"Pretty boring really", the sergeant admitted. "You just hand out equipment, set up Parchessi tournaments. Nothing big."
"Wow!", Orwig exclaimed, "that sounds great. You guys got any openings?"
Just then, they rounded the corner and saw ANDA's prone form lying on a pile of rubble that used to be a door. They came to an abrupt halt and waited for Proteau and EVE-Stay to catch up.
